Acciaierie e Ferriere Riva was located in Caronno, an industrial area not far from Milan.

1970 acquisitions allowed entry of the Group into long products. SEII denotes Societa Esercizi Impianti Industriali di Malegno - based in Brescia.

1974: The business of ASI was the recovery of auto sector scrap iron.

The rebar producer Iton Seine was adapted to use steel rails as the feedstock for production of reinforcing bar. 1977 acquisition by Riva was of an 80% ownership stake.

1981: The business of OFG was the production of reinforcing bar and of drawing quality wire rod.

Purchase in 1989 of the Charleroi-Marcinelle rod mill was from Belgium's Cockerille-Sambre.

The purchase by Riva in 1995 of Ilva's steel assets made the Riva Group Italy's largest steel company. The purchase also brought Riva control over Tunisacier, a producer of steel plate based in Biserta, Tunisia.

2000: SAM denotes Societe des Aciers d'Armature pour le Beton.

2005 restructuring at Genova works involved closure of the blast furnaces; reorientation to downstream production at Cornigliano.

2012: Judges in Taranto placed key parts of the steelworks under special administration and threatened closure if a solution could not be found to the pollution which had allegedly created an environmental disaster in the southern Italian city.

End 2012: Criminal probe into environmental scandal at Taranto underway - several senior executives are arrested.

2013: Emilio Riva, the former chief of troubled steel manufacturer ILVA, his son Nicholas, and the former Taranto mill manager Luigi Capogrosso were released for jail 12 months after their arrest in connection with environmental problems created at their steel works in southern Italy.

2014: ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal confirmed in mid-2014 that the Italian government had approached ArcelorMittal, with a view to the world's largest steelmakier possibly investing in or buying the troubled Taranto-based steel plant.

2015: Fabio Riva was arrested in June 2015 after he was extradited from Britain on charges that he committed crimes against the environment and fraud at Europe's biggest steel factory.

2015: In August Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won a confidence vote in the Senate allowing banks offload bad loans and to keep the works open.

2016: The Italian government in January 2016 published an invitation to would-be buyers of the Taranto Steel plant to submit offers for the purchase of the business by 10th February.